Company Number: SC000750
Date of Incorporation: 24 April 1877
Contact Details: Edinburgh Park, 5 Lochside Way, Edinburgh, EH12 9DT
Operating Details: Active (Private Limited Company)
Other names (if known): The Distillers Company Limited (1877-unknown), The Distillers Company PLC (to 1987), United Distillers Limited (1987-1998) United Distillers & vintners (Er) Limited (1998-2001), Guiness United Distillers and Vintners Scotland (2001-2002)
Function of Company*: Manufacture distilled potable drinks
Headquarters/Base of Operations Location: Throughout Scotland
Area of Operation: Worldwide distribution
*Taken from Standard Industrial Classification 2003, as used by Companies House in 2010
Records
Held By: Diageo Archive GB 1877- Glenochil House, Menstrie, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, FK11 7ES or email christine.j.mccafferty@diageo.com
Related records: There are various court records and site plans for this company located in the National Archives of Scotland.
Company History
The Distillers Company was formed by a combination of six Scotch Whisky distilleries; Macfarlane & Co., John Bald &Co. John Haig & Co., MacNab Bros & Co, Robert Mowbray and Stewart & Co. This gave the company distilleries in Cameron Bridge, Fife (the Haig Distillery), Cambus (the Cambus Distillery established in 1836 by John Mowbray) port Dundas (Macfarlane & Co) Alloa (John Bald & Co) Saucel (Stewart & Co) and West Dolls (The McNab’s Glenochil distillery).
Although the company would expand into other distilleries (including the Vauxhall distillery in Liverpool in 1907), West Dolls was closed before the end of the 1800s and the Saucel plant (based near Paisley) was destroyed by fire in 1915. DCL continued expanding after the war; in 1927 its chairman John Dewar (made Lord Forteviot ten years earlier) said at its jubilee dinner ‘This company has been a series of amalgamations. Its birth was an amalgamation, and we’ve gone on amalgamating ever since’ (Wilson p142). The most notable mergers occurred in 1925 when the company absorbed John Walker & Son and Buchanan-Dewar, and in the same year took full control of the Yoker distillery founded by John Harvey in 1770.These moves (and others made in the aftermath of the Second World War) made DCL one of the most prominent whisky manufacturers in the country.
As of 1980 this company had some 41 subsidiary distillery companies, mostly based in Glasgow and Edinburgh, though the Cambus distillery was closed in 1980 and the Carsebridge distillery founded by John Bald was shut down in 1983.
In 1986 this company was taken over by Guinness and became United Distillers. The various assets and subsidiaries of this company subsequently became part of Diageo, following the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan, and this company continues operating as the Scotch whisky distilling arm of the Diageo company. This company currently operates 28 malt distilleries,1 grain distillery, 3 packaging plants and various other sites across Scotland.
Sources
Ross Wilson, Scotch; the formative years (Constable, London 1970)
Michael Moss and John Hume, The Making of Scotch Whisky (James & James, Edinburgh 1981)
Diageo Scotland Limited
Company Number: SC000750
Date of Incorporation: 24 April 1877
Contact Details: Edinburgh Park, 5 Lochside Way, Edinburgh, EH12 9DT
Operating Details: Active (Private Limited Company)
Other names (if known): The Distillers Company Limited (1877-unknown), The Distillers Company PLC (to 1987), United Distillers Limited (1987-1998) United Distillers & vintners (Er) Limited (1998-2001), Guiness United Distillers and Vintners Scotland (2001-2002)
Function of Company*: Manufacture distilled potable drinks
Headquarters/Base of Operations Location: Throughout Scotland
Area of Operation: Worldwide distribution
*Taken from Standard Industrial Classification 2003, as used by Companies House in 2010
Records
Held By: Diageo Archive GB 1877- Glenochil House, Menstrie, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, FK11 7ES or email christine.j.mccafferty@diageo.com
Scope/type: Contact Diageo Archive for details
Conditions governing access/use: Contact Diageo Archive
Related records: There are various court records and site plans for this company located in the National Archives of Scotland.
Company History
The Distillers Company was formed by a combination of six Scotch Whisky distilleries; Macfarlane & Co., John Bald &Co. John Haig & Co., MacNab Bros & Co, Robert Mowbray and Stewart & Co. This gave the company distilleries in Cameron Bridge, Fife (the Haig Distillery), Cambus (the Cambus Distillery established in 1836 by John Mowbray) port Dundas (Macfarlane & Co) Alloa (John Bald & Co) Saucel (Stewart & Co) and West Dolls (The McNab’s Glenochil distillery).
Although the company would expand into other distilleries (including the Vauxhall distillery in Liverpool in 1907), West Dolls was closed before the end of the 1800s and the Saucel plant (based near Paisley) was destroyed by fire in 1915. DCL continued expanding after the war; in 1927 its chairman John Dewar (made Lord Forteviot ten years earlier) said at its jubilee dinner ‘This company has been a series of amalgamations. Its birth was an amalgamation, and we’ve gone on amalgamating ever since’ (Wilson p142). The most notable mergers occurred in 1925 when the company absorbed John Walker & Son and Buchanan-Dewar, and in the same year took full control of the Yoker distillery founded by John Harvey in 1770.These moves (and others made in the aftermath of the Second World War) made DCL one of the most prominent whisky manufacturers in the country.
As of 1980 this company had some 41 subsidiary distillery companies, mostly based in Glasgow and Edinburgh, though the Cambus distillery was closed in 1980 and the Carsebridge distillery founded by John Bald was shut down in 1983.
In 1986 this company was taken over by Guinness and became United Distillers. The various assets and subsidiaries of this company subsequently became part of Diageo, following the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan, and this company continues operating as the Scotch whisky distilling arm of the Diageo company. This company currently operates 28 malt distilleries,1 grain distillery, 3 packaging plants and various other sites across Scotland.
Sources
Ross Wilson, Scotch; the formative years (Constable, London 1970)
Michael Moss and John Hume, The Making of Scotch Whisky (James & James, Edinburgh 1981)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distillers_Company_Limited
With thanks to the Diageo Group Archives for their help and assistance with the project, and their permission to use this information.